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Tuesday, November 8, 2011

Going Against the Grain

"Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people
always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can
become great."
- Mark Twain

This quote makes me think about my husband before we got together. I've always been teased in school and as a result I had a very low opinion of myself at one point. He noticed that I was constantly belittling my worth and commented on it one day. I'm paraphrasing what he said, but it was something like this.

"How can anyone else love you, if you don't love yourself? I am number one in my life, and you should feel the same. If you really wanted to change something about yourself, you'd do it not just talk about it. When you love yourself, you become easy to love by others."

It was then that I realized I needed to stop being so critical of myself. I was never going to be a super model. I may never be thin. And I realized over time that it's societies pressures to be beautiful that make me want to loose weight. Not for health reasons nor to be more beautiful. Because honestly, I'm beautiful no matter what size jeans I fit into.

My ambition in life has been to be who I am regardless of what other people think of me. The day I realized my worth is the day I took my future in my hands and shaped who I am without fear of societies rules. Has it stopped others from teasing? No. Someone will always comment that I'm a hippy tree hugger or that I'm a fat woman.

But as long as I remember that I am number one, no one can belittle me.

I promise not to keep quoting childhood cartoons, but please forgive me for adding one more.